Private Screening Will Be Held For Documentary Featuring Gavin Creel

A private screening will be held for the pilot episode of Common Denominator, a new series about art and mental health that focuses on connection and showing people that they are not alone. The first episode of the unreleased series features the late Gavin Creel, who filmed the pilot episode before his untimely passing. Read Creel's obituary here.

The event, in coordination with Creel’s friends including Celia Keenan-Bolger and the University of Michigan School of Music, Theater and Dance, will take place on Monday, January 27 at the Director Guild Theater, 110 West 57 Street. It is an invitation-only industry event, with a limited number of tickets available to fans.

“It is very rare that we get to meet people that change your lives forever, regardless of the amount of time you have with them; Gavin was one of them.  This event is meant to celebrate Gavin and showcase the incredible message that he provided during the filming,” said Common Denominator Co-Creator Harris Schwartzberg. “We did not feel right having all of this incredible footage of Gavin and not sharing it with those who are grieving his loss.”

The evening will feature an opening by Schwartzberg who will introduce the concept, followed by behind-the-scenes clips from filming as well as two music videos of Gavin performing original songs. The 35-minute pilot episode, hosted by Emmy Award winner Maurice Dubois and featuring Creel working with Wynwood Artist Peter Tunney, will have multiple screenings that day. There will also be performances by University of Michigan Musical Theater Broadway performers who will perform songs from a few of Gavin’s favorite shows. They include Aidan Jones, Lily Rosenberg, Dominic Dorset, Travis Anderson, Sevon Askew, Margot Grom, Claire DeJean, Angeleia Ordonez, and Ximone Rose with Cynthia Westphal Nixon.

Since Gavin was such a proponent of scholarship and teaching, Two Bridge is working with the University of Michigan School of Music, Theater, and Dance to match donations from this screening for the Celia Keenan-Bolger and Gavin Creel Activist Artist Endowed Scholarship Fund.  Gavin inspired the Schwartzberg family to donate to the UM School of Music, Theater, and Dance, which resulted in the Steven M. Schwartzberg Practice Wing at UMSMTD and “The Berg” technology dance studio at the UM Dance Building.

“Common Denominator was created to allow artists and guests to openly discuss important issues around loneliness, happiness, love, loss, and everything in between; Gavin was the ideal guest to set the standard for all others,” continued Schwartzberg. “Gavin shows us we are NOT alone; we are not stuck; and we have to be each other’s emotional scaffolding at times.”